Örebro - Stanford || Cross-Cultural Rhetoric Video Conference || February 23, 2011
Activity: Students from Helle Rytkønen’s PWR class at Stanford on Humor (What is so funny?)
and Anders Eriksson’s Cross-Cultural Rhetoric class in Örebro will meet for a one-time
videoconference. In groups, students will make their own humor being mindful of the negotiations
it takes to decide what is funny – and for whom. All will learn how to use ICT for global
communication.
I. Getting connected. 18:10 - 18:15 / 9:10- 9:15am (10 Minutes)
Location: Marratech Room A (http://switchboard.stanford.edu)
Each group connects to the virtual conference room A above. Cameras turned on, microphones
turned off. Conversations through the chatbox, lower right hand corner.
II. Welcome and Introductory Remarks. 18:15-18:25/ 9:15-9:25am, (10 minutes)
Location: Marratech Room A (http://switchboard.stanford.edu)
Presenters: Helle Rytkønen, Stanford University; Anders Eriksson, Orebro University.
Introduction to the purpose of today’s activities.
III. Small Group Work. 18.30-18.40/ 9.30-9.40, (10 minutes)
Location: Groups A, B, C: CCR Group Rooms at http://switchboard.stanford.edu
Activity: Icebreaker. Discuss the two Daily Show clips (Stockholm Syndrome)
Goal: To get to know each other and the perception of cultures from abroad
VI. Small Group Work. 18.40-19.20/ 9.40-10.20, (40 minutes)
Location: Groups A, B, C: CCR Group Rooms at http://switchboard.stanford.edu
Activity: Create a “David Letterman style” Top Ten list together
Goal: To pay attention to doxa and humor, i.e. to be aware of the negotiations of norms, values,
assumptions about class, race, ethnicity, culture, etc. that are involved in creating something we find
funny. To learn more about the rhetoric of humor.
Instructions
1. Use “Switching Marratech Rooms Instruction Sheet” to switch to your small group room.
2. In your groups, pull up the sample top ten lists, consider your audience (the rest of us) and
decide on a theme for your group’s top ten list.
3. Split into groups so that the students at Stanford work together on creating 3-5 points for the list,
and the students in Sweden do the same thing.
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CCR Video Conference: February 23, 2011
4. Share your points and discuss if any of them have to be modified. Maybe the other group doesn’t
understand what’s funny about your point, maybe you’ll have to explain certain words or practices.
5. Decide on which 10 points should be on the top ten list and look for visuals for it (go to google
images, for example)
6. Save the top ten list as a word document and email to: helle@stanford.edu
7. Select a person from your group to present your list to all of us. All of you should be ready to
answer questions about your list. We will be particularly interested in hearing the discussions you
had to decide on the points that made the list.
IV. Reporting back in virtual conference 19.20-19.30/ 10.20-10.40 (10 minutes)
Location: Marratech Room A (http://switchboard.stanford.edu)
Each group connects to the virtual conference room T217 above.
Each group shares their piece of humor. Other groups can ask questions.
Helle and Anders summarizes
V. Debrief at Individual Universities 19.30-19:45/ 10.30-10.45 (15 minutes)
Meet for debriefs at individual universities. Örebro meets in L 134.
During the debriefs, address the following questions:
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What have you learned about cultural identity from this activity?
What have you learned about cross-cultural rhetoric from this activity?
What have you learned are the obstacles in cross-cultural communication?
How did technology facilitate your cross-cultural communication?
What can be learned by having to share, explain, negotiate humor across cultures?